The recently-elected government in PEI won't bring its budget down until later this summer but the Board of Governors at the University of Prince Edward Island isn't waiting until then to confirm a major decrease in tuition costs. The Board has just approved tuition cuts of 10 per cent for graduate and undergraduate programs, making UPEI one of the most competitive universities in the region.

"The cost of education at UPEI has always been good value. Implementing this 10 per cent cut gives our University even more of a competitive edge. It means our tuition will be substantially lower than the average at Maritime universities," said the Chair of the UPEI Board of Governors, Fred Hyndman. "We are especially pleased to include graduate students who are key to the growth of UPEI and to an innovative economy in the region."

The cuts are backed by a pre-budget financial commitment from the PEI Minister of Education Gerard Greenan and they follow a previous announcement by UPEI that it is offering $50,000 in new scholarships and awards for graduate students this year.

"This acknowledges the important role that graduate students play in the research and campus communities," said Colleen MacDougall, president of the UPEI Graduate Student Association. "As a growing body on campus, our organization is encouraged to know that our distinct needs are being recognized by the Province and by the University."

"This announcement also strengthens UPEI's appeal as a great small university for all incoming students," said fourth-year math student Lucas Squires who is the coordinator of new student orientation at UPEI.

UPEI placed fifth in the 2006 Maclean's rankings of 21 primarily undergraduate universities, and was Canada's top university for student-faculty interaction in the 2006 National Survey of Student Engagement.

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give" and#150; that famous quote by Winston Churchill is one that retired accounting professor Ab Ferris is fond of repeating. He uses it when he talks about the $100,000 gift that he and his wife Kathleen have just made to the new UPEI School of Business Administration through the Building a Legacy Campaign. Ab Ferris taught in the School of Business for 27 years and Kathleen Ferris graduated from the UPEI Faculty of Arts in 1991.

"My wife and I are making this gift because we can, and because we should. We are doing it for UPEI students, present and future. When I taught at UPEI I always believed in putting the students first. Our donation to the University is another way of doing just that," says Ab Ferris.

"Ab was loved and respected by our business students as a demanding teacher who was committed to high levels of achievement. We are extremely grateful to Ab and Kathleen for their generous gift to our new school. The support of our former faculty and students is very important to us," says Dean of Business Roberta MacDonald.

Ab Ferris obtained the designation of FCA (Fellow of Chartered Accountants) in 1995 for his outstanding contribution to education. He is now Executive Director of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of PEI. In recognition of the Ferris family's commitment to UPEI, the executive boardroom in the new School of Business will be named the Albert M. Ferris Executive Boardroom.

The UPEI School of Business Administration is expanding to include new research centres, create industry partnerships, and develop new educational offerings. It is introducing new undergraduate streams in Entrepreneurship and Biotechnology Management, Executive Education programming, and an MBA program has been proposed for 2008. To accommodate these developments, a new 50,000 square foot facility is under construction on campus. The building features a contemporary design, increased meeting space, modern technologies throughout, and more space for School of Business Administration initiatives. It is scheduled to open at the end of this year. More information is available at business.upei.ca.

July 11, 2007

Researchers at the University of Prince Edward Island are pursuing answers to the challenges presented by invasive species in Island waters.

"Over the past two decades, the number of aquatic invasive species has grown in PEI waters," says Dr. Jeff Davidson who leads the shellfish research group at the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) at UPEI. "Invasive species such as tunicates cause monumental challenges to the Island mussel industry. Species like the green crab threaten native habitats and coastal biodiversity. It is critical that we learn as much as we can about aquatic invasive species and apply this knowledge to their early detection, control, and mitigation."

Research into invasive aquatic species is taking place at the University in different forms. Dr. Davidson's shellfish research group and Dr. Russell Kerr, Canada Research Chair in Marine Natural Products in UPEI's faculty of science, are working on a project in association with the PEI Aquaculture Alliance which recently received funding through ACOA's Atlantic Innovation Fund. Through this project UPEI researchers will work to provide insight on sustainable and efficient methods of managing tunicates and their impact on the mussel industry. Goals of this research project include: improving detection and characterization methods, identifying active compounds to prevent invasive species proliferation, and developing and implementing mitigation measures.

This research will provide innovative methods of tunicate diagnosis, prevention, and treatment by making use of new technologies and methods that, unlike numerous attempts at reducing other aquatic invasive species, are shown to be environmentally sound and sustainable.

Other researchers from AVC's shellfish research group, Dr. Ahmed Siah and Sarah Clark, are developing novel molecular tests to accurately and efficiently monitor for tunicates at their earliest developmental stages.

Dr. Kerr, along with Dr. Syd Withers, will also lead a team of researchers within UPEI's department of chemistry in collecting marine invertebrates and algae from the waters in Atlantic Canada and generating a library of semi-purified fractions which will be used to locate a tunicate anti-fouling bioactive compound. Once a compound is adequately evaluated, the UPEI research team will collaborate with Nautilus Biosciences to find efficient and sustainable production methods.

Dr. Pedro Quijon of UPEI's biology department works in close collaboration with colleagues at the AVC shellfish lab to study the range and interactions of the European green crab in Island waters. The green crabs are predators that threaten native habitats (such as eel grass beds) and coastal biodiversity. "In the absence of its natural competitors, predators and parasites, the green crab has been able to thrive in virtually every location worldwide into which it has been introduced," explains Dr. Quijon. "It is an eager predator that is a cause of concern for PEI's aquaculture and fishery which are two large components of the Island economy and culture."

Dr. Quijon's research team is focused on understanding the mechanisms used by green crabs to successfully out-compete native crab species and its ability to efficiently forage on small soft shell clams or quahogs. The team's work has been in progress for a year at various coastal sites around PEI.

"We're pleased to see the Prince Edward Island Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture promote public awareness of aquatic invasive species," says Davidson. "The arrival and spread of these species has negatively impacted sectors of the aquaculture industry and our ecosystem. We look forward to finding the answers needed to control them as best possible."

Joy Ikede, International Student Advisor at the University of Prince Edward Island, has received regional recognition for her commitment to student services. At the 2007 Atlantic Association of College and University Student Services Conference she was presented with The Carol's Creed Award. This annual award was established in 2003 in recognition of the outstanding dedication of the late Carol Jordan who was a long-serving member of the student services staff at the University of New Brunswick. The award is presented to an individual who has shown infectious enthusiasm for the profession of services to students through a commitment to health, well being, love, and laughter in her connection with students and colleagues on a personal level.

When she accepted the award, Ikede said, Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I would be given such an honour. I did not have the opportunity to meet Carol in person, but from all accounts, she was quite a lady. My prayer is that having received this award, I am able to honour her memory by doing my best in my job.

Joy Ikede provides information, support, and advice to the increasing numbers of international students attending UPEI.. She acts as a resource in navigating the legal, academic, and cultural challenges of living as a student in a new country.

The University of Prince Edward Island is saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. John Tougas Croteau of South Bend, Indiana. Dr. Croteau was a former professor at Prince of Wales College and St. Dunstan's, and one of the fathers of Prince Edward Island's credit union and co-op movement. In recognition of his distinguished service in the credit union and cooperative movements, he received an honorary degree from UPEI in 1976. He died July 17 at the age of 97 after an extended illness.

Born March 10, 1910, in Holbrook, MA, Dr. Croteau was educated in Worcester, MA, earning his BA (1931) at Holy Cross College and his Master's (1932) and Doctorate (1935) in Economics from Clark University. He began his career in 1933 at Prince of Wales College and St. Dunstan's courtesy of the philanthropic Carnegie Corporation of New York who gave funding to set up a regional library and endow the Carnegie Chair of Economics and Sociology to be shared between the two institutions. Over the next 12 years he also served as Director of Adult Education Programs, Manager of the Credit Union League and the PEI Cooperative Union, and Executive Secretary of the Adult Education League. For his tireless labor on behalf of working families, he became known in Canada as "The Apostle of the Co-operative Movement."

Says his niece, well-known heritage activist Catherine Hennessey, "John left me a wonderful personal legacy. He was always encouraging people to write down what they knew, so we wouldn't lose our heritage. He'd always say to me, and#145;Publish it! Publish it! Publish it!' His words haunt me to this day!"

While in PEI, he and fellow co-operative organizer Bram Chandler were the main proponents of the Antigonish Movement, a co-operative movement founded by Father Moses Coady St. F X's Extension Department. For years, Croteau and Chandler spent much of their time travelling the Island's clay roads, organizing kitchen meetings, distributing library and co-operative materials, and promoting credit unions and co-operatives. According to author Marian Bruce in her history of Prince of Wales College, A Century of Excellence, by 1937 there were 338 study groups across the province, with 4,300 members. "Credit unions and co-operatives sprang up like dandelions in the spring. In a dark time, they gave people hope."

Dr. Croteau left Prince Edward Island around 1946 to take up teaching positions at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Catholic University in Washington, DC, before settling at Notre Dame in 1953, Professor Croteau. At various times he was a consultant to the US Bureau of Federal Credit Unions, the Social Security Administration, Director of the Canadian Political Science Association as well as Director of the Credit Union National Association. In addition to these national positions, between 1960 and 1969 he was President of the Board of Directors of the Notre Dame Federal Credit Union.

In 1955 he testified before the powerful Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. Congress to advocate retention of the federal income tax-exempt status of credit unions, a concession they still enjoy today. This moment he called ". . . probably the highlight of my career."

Professor Croteau was a prodigious scholar. He wrote four major books: A Regional Library and its Readers (1940) with Henry Chandler; Cradled in the Waves: The Story of a People's Cooperative Achievement in Economic Betterment on Prince Edward Island (1951); The Federal Credit Union: Policy and Practice (1956); and The Economics of the Credit Union (1963), which was translated into Spanish (1965), Korean (1966) and Portuguese (1968) and became a classic in its field. Cradled in the Waves is still a major Prince Edward Island reference book, as well as two booklets he wrote: The Farmers' Bank of Rustico: An Early People's Bank (published in the mid-1950s) and The Acadian Grain Banks of Prince Edward Island (1955).

In addition, he produced over 20 monographs on credit union topics, 30 articles in professional journals as well as numerous book reviews. His active publishing and scholarly conference presentations continued for over a decade after his retirement from Notre Dame (1975) and a one-year appointment during 1975and#150;76 as Chair of the Department of Business Administration and Economics at Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame. During the 1990s he served as consultant on Working Together: Two Centuries of Co-operation in Prince Edward Island by Marian Bruce and Elizabeth Cran (Island Studies Press, 2004).

Respected by colleagues and students alike, he was awarded two other honorary doctorates besides UPEI's: from St. Joseph's University (1956) and the University of Moncton (1976).

Says Wade MacLauchlan, President of UPEI, who visited Dr. Croteau in South Bend in March 2002, "Dr. Croteau was proud of his Prince Edward Island associations and achievements. When I visited he recounted PEI stories from seventy years ago. He was very good at keeping his mind sharp, including writing regular, witty letters, and learning to play the banjo in his nineties."

Always the professor and economist, his last words were a repetition of the final words of the eighteenth century philosopher, Adam Smith, the father of modern Economics, who is reputed to have said: "This meeting is adjourned. It seems as if we must continue this conversation in another place." His life will be celebrated in a memorial Mass Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in South Bend where he was a long-time parishioner. He will be buried in Summerside, alongside his beloved first wife, Gertrude D. Gallant, who died in 1961.

Lots of smiles and laughter will be the order this weekend as over 500 alumni of UPEI, St Dunstan's University (SDU), and Prince of Wales College (PWC) are expected to take part in reunion gatherings during UPEI's Summer Reunion Weekend, July 27-29.

The always popular UPEI Alumni golf tournament, with over 140 golfers, tees off at 7:30am on Friday at Fox Meadow Golf and Country Club. The SDU Classes of '52, '57, '61 '62 and '67, as well as the PWC Class of 1947, will be gathering at their meet and greet receptions during the weekend.

The campus will be busy Friday night with the 23rd Annual SDU Alumni Mass is at 7:30 at the Steel Recital Hall, followed by a reception in McMillan Hall of the W.A. Murphy Student Centre.

The 20-year reunion reception for the UPEI class of 1987, as well as the Engineers of '87, starts at 8pm. Events wrap up on Friday evening with an alumni dance at The Wave, the campus lounge in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre.

Campus Tours are available at noon on Friday and Saturday starting at the steps of historic Main Building.

All Welshmen are invited to the PWC Luncheon on Sunday, July 29 at 1pm in McMillan Hall of the W.A. Murphy Student Centre. Jumpin' Jack Proude, PWC '47 and Robert Acorn, PWC'48, will share their memories of days at PWC and UPEI. President Wade MacLauchlan will also address the luncheon.

For more information contact: Alf Blanchard, UPEI Alumni Officer at 566-0761, cell 393-3711, or alumni@upei.ca.

The provincial government announced today that, beginning in September, all full-time Island students in their first and second year at UPEI will receive a new provincial grant of $400 through the enhanced Island Student Awards program. Third- and fourth-year students will continue to receive a $600 bursary each year.

This announcement is the second piece of good news for students in the past month. On July 4, the UPEI Board of Governors announced that the University had cut undergraduate and graduate tuition rates for the upcoming academic year by ten per cent.

"This is great news for UPEI, and for current and future students. UPEI tuition is already the lowest of any Maritime university. These substantial awards make UPEI an even better value, together with a premium quality education, for students who are entering, returning or transferring," says UPEI President Wade MacLauchlan.

Education Minister Gerard Greenan noted that the new programs will provide students with up to $2,000 in provincial government grants over the course of their programs. “The awards are an incentive for Island students to stay at home to study and to complete their programs. These new and enhanced programs, which are more generous and fair, will make it easier for more Island students to access the high quality post-secondary programs available here on the Island,” he said.

Students do not have to apply for the awards. They will receive letters from the provincial government in early December advising them that the grant has been deposited in their tuition accounts.

Minister Greenan said planning will begin soon to implement the New Beginnings program in September, 2008. This new program will provide Island students entering UPEI with a $2,000 grant.

The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) has partnered with the Mi'kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island (MCPEI) to create a new Bachelor's Degree in Socio-Economic Development (BSED). It will follow the principles and research conclusions of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, which found that good governance was a key factor in producing sustainable economic results and determining the success of indigenous communities in the US and Canada.

The Faculties of Arts, Business, and Education will work together to develop a unique combination of business, social, and political studies addressing the key elements of education, personal growth, and opportunity of future Aboriginal leaders. It will provide a comprehensive foundation for these future leaders by combining existing and proven academic courses and newly-designed programming integrated with cooperative learning opportunities.

Access to post-secondary education is of significant interest to the Association of Atlantic Universities (AAU). The AAU has set up a Working Group whose mandate is to improve university access, retention, and graduation of Aboriginal students contributing to the health and well-being of Aboriginal communities through research and capacity-building. Dr. Vianne Timmons, Vice-President of Academic Development at UPEI and Co-chair of the AAU Working Group says, "UPEI is committed to improving access and support for Aboriginal students in the province." She adds that the partnership between UPEI and MCPEI is a model that could be replicated throughout Atlantic Canada.

Jeff Brant, Director of Socio-Economic Development with the MCPEI says there is an "increasing need to build the capacity of emerging Aboriginal leaders." He points out that as First Nations continue to exert greater autonomy over their own affairs, it is necessary that emerging Aboriginal business, social, and political leaders are equipped to build sustainable Aboriginal communities by using principles of good governance, business, and social development.

Funding for the development of this project is provided by the Indian Studies Support Program of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada . This program supports the development of post-secondary training that leads to the certification of Aboriginal people. It has been used to create Bachelor's programs in Social Work and Education as well as Conservation Officer certification.

For more information on the UPEI Bachelor's Degree in Socio-Economic Development, contact Dr. Vianne Timmons at (902) 566-6485 or Jeff Brant at (902) 367-3661.

The provincial government announced today that, beginning in September, all full-time Island students in their first and second year at UPEI will receive a new provincial grant of $400 through the enhanced Island Student Awards program. Third- and fourth-year students will continue to receive a $600 bursary each year.

This announcement is the second piece of good news for students in the past month. On July 4, the UPEI Board of Governors announced that the University had cut undergraduate and graduate tuition rates for the upcoming academic year by ten per cent.

"This is great news for UPEI, and for current and future students. UPEI tuition is already the lowest of any Maritime university. These substantial awards make UPEI an even better value, together with a premium quality education, for students who are entering, returning or transferring," says UPEI President Wade MacLauchlan.

Education Minister Gerard Greenan noted that the new programs will provide students with up to $2,000 in provincial government grants over the course of their programs. "The awards are an incentive for Island students to stay at home to study and to complete their programs. These new and enhanced programs, which are more generous and fair, will make it easier for more Island students to access the high quality post-secondary programs available here on the Island," he said.

Students do not have to apply for the awards. They will receive letters from the provincial government in early December advising them that the grant has been deposited in their tuition accounts.

Minister Greenan said planning will begin soon to implement the New Beginnings program in September, 2008. This new program will provide Island students entering UPEI with a $2,000 grant.

The UPEI School of Business Administration's Global Associates advisory group met on July 31 to discuss how the School can best position its program in a broader global context. This was the second annual meeting of the Global Associates, which is comprised of 13 highly accomplished business leaders and academics from organizations and institutions throughout North America and Europe.

"The Global Associates play a leadership role in the development of the School of Business. We are constantly working to deliver a high-calibre education that will equip our graduates with the skills they need to succeed in the global business community. The diverse experience and expertise of the Global Associates will help guide the development of programs that support this objective," says Roberta MacDonald, UPEI Dean of Business.

The members of the Global Associates have an impressive array of credentials and hold senior positions with companies such as IBM, Colgate-Palmolive, General Electric, and Novartis Animal Health. The group is chaired by Tim O'Neill, founder of O'Neill Strategic Economics and former Executive Vice President and Chief Economist of the Bank of Montreal Financial Group.

Discussion at the meeting focused on a global business environment that is becoming increasingly "flat," following up on a speech delivered at the UPEI Business Society's 30th annual luncheon by UPEI graduate Alex McBeath, Global Associates Member and Executive Partner and CEO of Grant Thornton LLP. Entitled "An Island in a and#145;Flat' World," the speech had challenged the Island's business community, educators, and leaders to succeed in a rapidly changing business environment. How the School of Business can tailor its programs to address this change in environment was on the minds of the Global Associates as participants considered the significance of emerging trends such as sustainability/eco-management, corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, and technology.

"We want to ensure that graduates of the School of Business are equipped with the knowledge and skills to succeed in a and#145;flat' world, that we are providing an educational experience that is valuable to our students and applicable in today's business world," says Roberta MacDonald.

The School of Business has seen rapid growth over recent years and continues to introduce new opportunities and offerings to its students. In addition to the current bachelor's degree and certificate programs, the School is introducing new undergraduate streams in Entrepreneurship and Biotechnology Management, as well as Executive Education programming. To accommodate its continued evolution, a new 50,000-square-foot building is currently under construction and will house the School of Business Administration and Centre for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.